25/08/2026
Help at hand to uncover family history
The great American essayist Ralph Waldo Emerson once remarked, "Every man is a quotation from all his ancestors.” Now, in the modern era, we would replace every man with everyone, but the quote still speaks to the desire to uncover connections from the past. The Alexander Heritage and Research Library and members of the NZ Genealogical Society - Whanganui branch have worked together for decades to help people uncover their family stories – a team that helps with the heavy lifting, finding answers that build connection.
Jasmin Ratana, Māori information librarian, compares the six members of the Genealogical Society who regularly assist at the Alexander Library to ‘magic genies’ and says that they give free assistance every weekday afternoon between 1 and 4pm.
Megan Orme-Whitlock, Convenor for the NZ Genealogical Society - Whanganui branch and a ‘genie’, says that both the Alexander team and the Society have a great many shared interests and the same motivating factors, including a desire to assist people in the community.
“We do the work for free. People can come in with a request about their family or their family tree or just actually not even knowing where to start. And we provide support, sometimes ongoing, sometimes it's one-off. So we use a lot of the resources that are looked after here at the library.”
The library resources are varied and plentiful, including a Biographical Index, transcribed records and early newsletters; microfiche of births/deaths/marriages up to 1990; microfilmed newspapers available up to the current day; local history books and extensive photo collections.
“It's really important to us, as genealogists, that people have access to who they are, and learning more about who they are,” Megan adds.
Jasmin says, “You’d be surprised how many people come in and search up specific sporting events. There's collections of sporting photos from throughout the years as well.”
People like to find news reports or photos about a sporting event they or a family member won when they were young. Keeping family stories alive.
Others may have lost contact with their wider family – their parents may have died early and they want to reconnect with who their family is.
There are a multitude of reasons why people may have fractured and obscured knowledge of a family, and the Alexander Library and the ‘genies’ are a great place to start the journey to restore lost life stories and identity.
The ‘genies’ also can help with DNA research, always mindful of the Privacy Act, and they come with specialised knowledge too, like Irish history, armed service individuals, and Heads Road cemetery, to name a few.
What’s surprising is the marriage of a library like the Alexander and a Genealogical Society is not common throughout other towns and cities in New Zealand.
Sandy Nepia, Whanganui District Library community service manager, says, “I think that it is a great model. It also makes both of us better.”
Make a visit to the Alexander Library to rediscover part of your past, or a family member’s. The NZ Genealogical Society - Whanganui branch also run a DNA interest group: the 3rd Monday of every month between April and September at 11:00am. They also host monthly meetings with fascinating speakers on the second Monday of every month, doors opening at 6.15pm. Both events are held at the Alexander Library.
Photo: L to R: Sandy Nepia, Megan Orme-Whitlock and Jasmin Ratana with the current exhibition promotion “Kiwis on the Veldt: Whanganui and the South African War 1899–1902”. Researched by library heritage intern Taine Matoe, the display highlights Whanganui’s specific local ties to the historic South African (Boer) War.
